INTRODUCTION: Airway management is still a major cause of anesthesia-associated morbidity and mortality. Supraglottic devices are recommended in difficult airway management guidelines. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the Air-Q® and the LMA Fastrach™ for fiberoptic guided tracheal intubation. METHODS: Thirty-three anesthesia trainees participated in this randomized crossover study. Time to insert the dedicated airways (insertion of the airway into the manikin and delivery of two breaths), time to tracheal intubation (fiberoptic-guided tracheal intubation), time to remove the dedicated airway (removal of the Air-Q®/LMA Fastrach™ over the tracheal tube) and the opinion of the ease of use of the anesthesia trainees were measured...

Emergency airway management is a critical skill for military healthcare providers. Our goal was to describe the Emergency Department (ED) intubations at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) over a 12-month period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Physicians performing endotracheal intubations in the BAMC ED complete data collection forms for each intubation event as part of the National Emergency Airway Registry, including patient demographics, intubation techniques, success and failure rates, adverse events, and patient disposition...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation, resulting from abnormalities in the airway and/or damage to the alveoli. Primary care physicians manage the healthcare of a large proportion of patients with COPD. In addition to determining the most appropriate medication regimen, which usually includes inhaled bronchodilators with or without inhaled corticosteroids, physicians are charged with optimizing inhalation device selection to facilitate effective drug delivery and patient adherence...

Despite being infrequent, complications of airway management remain an important contributor to morbidity and mortality during anaesthesia and care of the critically ill. Developments in the last three decades have made anaesthesia safer, and this has been mirrored in the equipment and techniques available for airway management. Modern technology including novel oxygenation modalities, widespread availability of capnography, second-generation supraglottic airway devices and videolaryngoscopy provide the tools to make airway management safer still...

Recently, a specifically designed device was proposed that is able to nebulize particles with a diameter of approximately 16 micrometres to be used mainly in the management of diseases of the upper airway respiratory tract. The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the potential efficacy of nebulized hyaluronic acid in the management of gingivitis. The results of the statistical analysis demonstrate that there was no difference between the pocket depth as measured in the treated sites at time 0 (pre-treatment) and time 1 (15 days post-treatment)...

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to study the feasibility of performing office-based laryngeal procedures employing a flexible hollow steerable sheath placed contralateral to the nostril through which a standard flexible video endoscope is placed. METHODS: The study design included simulation of transnasal endoscopic laryngeal procedures evaluating the use of a flexible steering sheath in laboratory and clinic settings. Transnasal laryngeal procedures were performed in an otolaryngology office setting employing an airway-management-trainer mannequin and then repeated in a human cadaver lab with standard transnasal flexible video laryngoscopy...

PURPOSE: To analyze the compression of the dural sac and the cervical spinal movement during performing different airway interventions in case of atlanto-occipital dislocation. METHODS: In six fresh cadavers, atlanto-occipital dislocation was performed by distracting the opened atlanto-occipital joint capsule and sectioning the tectorial membrane. Airway management was done using three airway devices (direct laryngoscopy, video laryngoscopy, and insertion of a laryngeal tube)...

One-lung ventilation is routinely used to facilitate exposure for thoracic surgical procedures and can be achieved via several lung isolation techniques. The optimal method for lung isolation depends on a number of factors that include (1) the indication for lung isolation, (2) anatomic features of the upper and lower airway, (3) availability of equipment and devices, and (4) the anesthesiologist's proficiency and preferences. Though double-lumen endobronchial tubes (DLTs) are most commonly utilized to achieve lung isolation, the use of endobronchial blockers offer advantages in patients with challenging airway anatomy...

BACKGROUND: When tracheal intubation is difficult or unachievable before surgery or during an emergent resuscitation, this is a critical safety event. Consensus algorithms and airway devices have been introduced in hopes of reducing such occurrences. However, evidence of improved safety in clinical practice related to their introduction is lacking. Therefore, we selected a large perioperative database spanning 2002 to 2015 to look for changes in annual rates of difficult and failed tracheal intubation...

BACKGROUND: Airway management of the obese patient presenting for surgery is more likely to be a challenging problem. Supraglottic airway device has been adopted as a bridge to connect ventilation and tracheal intubation in obese patients who would be suffered with difficult intubation. The optimum sevoflurane concentration for supraglottic airway device insertion allowing spontaneous breathing in 50% of obese patients (ED50) is not known. The purpose of this study was to determine the ED50 of sevoflurane for supraglottic airway device Blockbuster™ insertion with spontaneous breathing in obese patients requiring general anesthesia...

AIM OF THE STUDY: Mechanical chest compression (MCPR) devices are considered equivalent to manual compressions in patient outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). However, recent data suggest possible harm in patients with a supraglottic airway device (SGA) during MCPR. The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in direct and indirect markers of ventilation and perfusion in patients with cardiac arrest receiving MCPR and who had their airway managed with an endotracheal tube (ETT) or SGA...

BACKGROUND: Critical incidents in difficult airway management are still a main contributory factor for perioperative morbidity and mortality. Many national associations have developed algorithms for management of these time critical events. For implementation of these algorithms the provision of technical requirements and procedure-related training are essential. Severe airway incidents are rare events and clinical experience of the individual operators is limited; therefore, simulation is an adequate instrument for training and evaluating difficult airway algorithms...

Post-thyroidectomy neck hematoma represents a major concern for surgeons because it can result in severe and even life-threatening complications. In fact, postoperative hemorrhage may result in airway compression and respiratory distress, and therefore, effective hemostasis is an important goal in thyroid surgery. Postoperative hematoma occurs at a rate of approximately 0.1% to 1.1%. Almost all cases occur in the first 6 h after surgery and can be the result of several surgeon or patient factors. For many years the clamp-and-tie technique has been the most common way to divide the main vascular pedicles of the thyroid gland...

D-blade is a relatively new device in the field of videolaryngoscopy, designed for airway management by enabling indirectoscopic glottic view. In our study, we investigated efficiency of D-blade in comparison with direct Macintosh laryngoscope (gold standard). Fifty-two adult patients with normal airway scheduled for elective surgery in general anesthesia were randomly assigned in D-blade video or direct Macintosh group. In the first video group, patients were laryngo-scoped and intubated by D-blade, and in the second group laryngoscopy and intubation were performed by Macintosh laryngoscope...

Unanticipated difficult airway in a neonate is a challenging situation with many difficulties because of inherent anatomical variations. To complicate the situation there is a lack of appropriate equipment, expertise and established guidelines on the management of difficult airway in neonates and infants. There are few published reports regarding the use of available devices for emergency front-of-neck access. We report the case of airway management of a neonate with an unanticipated finding of subglottic stenosis...

Objective: Recently, there has been a trend favouring the use of supraglottic airway devices over endotracheal tubes (ETT) during short surgical procedures. In this study, we are going to assess the suitability of one such supraglottic airway device, i-gel, for pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV) during routine surgical procedures. Methods: The airway management for 60 patients was done with either i-gel (Group I) or cuffed tracheal tube (Group E) for this prospective, randomised, double-blinded study...

Positive airway pressure (PAP) remains primary therapy for most patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). CPAP, APAP, and BPAP are all reasonable therapies that can be used for patients with uncomplicated OSA across the spectrum of disease severity. BPAP should be considered for patients who are nonadherent to CPAP or APAP therapy because of pressure intolerance. Several additional factors should be considered when choosing the type of PAP device for a given patient, including associated symptoms and comorbid medical problems, cost, access to online data management and patient portals, and the portability for the device for patients who travel frequently...

Positive airway pressure (PAP) devices use different proprietary algorithms for sleep-disordered breathing event detection and response. Most device evaluations are based on clinical studies, which have obvious limitations. As a complementary approach, bench studies provide an analysis of algorithms in predefined conditions, which allows understanding contradictory results observed in clinical studies. But such studies cannot provide long-term treatment data and physiologic effects of treatment. It is important to understand the advantages and the limitations of both kinds of studies...